Improvement in fanning-mills



n l .n UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICEC Y fhirnANxLiN MiLns, oFRooHEsrni-i,'Nnw YORK..

f ilviPRovi-:M ENT IN FAN NiNG-.M i LLs.

` `Speciiication forming part of Lot-ters Patent No, 35,536, dated June10, 18122.

To @ZZ whom itjmayconcem n Beit known that I, FRANKLIN MILEs, ofRochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Fanning-Mills andGrain-Separators; and I do hereby declare that the following is afullandexact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, making part of this specijfcation, in-which` upper, and Dthelower, shoe; E, the drum,

`and F the fauor blower. The fan is driven by a pinion on itsshaft,which gears with the cogwheel G, to which a winch is applied forturn` `ing. (Not shownin the drawings.)

Vibratory motion 'is imparted to the shoes containing the sieves bymeans of a connecting! rod, a, Fig. i 2, between a crank in the end ofthe fan-shaft 'and the crank-arm b on the end of the shaft c, whichextends through from side to side of n the mill between the shoes C D,and is` connected with each by means of a double crank, d, one arm ofwhich extends upward andconnects with an eye, f, on shoe C, and theother` is connectedin a like manner with shoe D below. `The oscillationsreceived by the shaft c, from its connection with the fanshaft,xvibratethe shoes alternately forward and back in a nearly horizontal line, theybeing hung by straps e e, pivoted to the sides or frame. To render thismotionV more effective, I combine with it a suddenvertical vibration orjarproduced bythe concussion of' the peculiar bearings with which Iprovide the rock-A shaft c. Instead of having it roll in the usualsmooth boxes,` I attach to it a metal bearingpiece, H, Fig. 2, which isprovided with two semicircularprojections, g g, on its lower edge, thepositions of which are outside vof a perpendicular line through the axisof the shaft. These projections rest in corresponding semicircularrecesses, h h, in another plate, I` which Iis permanently attached tothe side of the machine. Thus the rock shaft rests on the doublebearings gg, and when in operation the motion consists not in partiallyrevolving it, but

in transferring its bearing alternatelyf rom one socket h, to the other.This produces a sudden concussion of the shoe at each horizontalvibration, the effect of which is to jar they grain upon the sieves andfree it from clogging with the'chaff, or otherwise accumulating in themeshes thereof, and thereby greatly increases their efficiency. Thisadditional and accelerated motion is obtained with little or noadditional expense or loss of power, as the bearings g g, being smaller,produce less friction than the ordinary smooth bearing.

I form the inclined bottom screen of the lower shoe by using two sieves,I J, fboth of which `are of a size corresponding with those employed inthe two lower grooves, c w, of the upper shoe, and upper groove, x, ofthe lower shoe, so as to admit of substituting one for the other, andtransposing their positions, when4 such a change is required, to adaptthe machine to cleaning or separating diiferent kinds of This is a greatconvenience, as such grain. changs are often necessary to render theoperation perfect. i

The sieves I J fit together closely, so that .when those of small meshesare used the grain passes readily over the surface of both Withoutinterruption. An inclined board, N, is placed below them to receive anygrain or other mat .ter which may be allowed to pass through, by

using coarse sieves in the place of I or J, and discharge it at o. Thatwhich is carried over the sieve I J is deposited atp.

The grass-seed is separated by the sieve m at the point where the grainis taken from the hopper onto the shoe in a receptacle, Q,When it may bedischarged through the aperture r.

This is an improvement in the arrangement, p

the advantages of which are that the grass-seed is separated at onceafter leaving the hopper S, before it has been exposed to any of theblast of fan, by which, from its lightness, some portions would beinevitably blown away and lost.l The seed box Q occupies a positionwhere it is leastin the way, and does not obstruct the blast; but, onthe contrary, contributes to direct and concentrate iton thefallinggrain at the rear part of the shoe.

To the sliding feed-board L, for regulating the size ofthe opening` inthe hopper, by which the grain and chaff descend upon the screen, Iattach a guide stem or handle, T,whieh is provided with a long datspring, u, lying longitudinally en its under side. Both thestem andspring pass through a mortise in the tranverse frame-piece A, and thepressure of the spring is sufficient to hold the board in any positionin which it is placed,while the stem Tenables it to be adjusted withease, as it insures the board working truly in its grooves, and whengrasped by the hand for the purpose of moving it the spring is likewisecompressed; and its pressure 'thus taken off. This is essential to theuniform working ot' the feed-board, .for without it the vibration of themachine has a tendency to displace the board L from any' given position.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

l. Compounding the motion of the shoe or shoes, when shakenhorizontally, by the addition ofthe abrupt vertical vibration or jar, bymeans of the double bearing H of the rockshaft o, and the sockets g g,substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. The combination and arrangement ofthe my name in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

FRANKLTN MILES.

Witnesses:

It F. OsGooD, D. G. J oiuNsoN.

